Twisting spindle balloon control



Sept. 27, 1966 A. W. VIBBER TWISTING SPINDLE BALLOON CONTROL 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 17, 1963 QM ml EI G Q6 A \6 RR R Q x x T If mM \W\. H JM J mvm vw m@ 1 kn Us N1\\m NA P Q wm U 2% m Sept. 27, 1966 w,VIBBER 3,274,763

TWISTING SPINDLE BALLOON CONTROL Filed Dec. 17, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 \1g \9 INVENT R.

United States Patent 3,274,763 TWESTING SPINDLE BALLOON CONTROL AlfredW. Vibber, 290 Churchill Road, West Englewood, Teaneck, NJ. Filed Dec.17, 1963, Ser. No. 331,149 7 Claims. (Cl. 57106) This invention relatesto an apparatus for twisting and/or plying strands, :and moreparticularly relates to an improved self-adjusting apex guide for suchapparatus.

This application is a continuationain-part of application Serial No.261,704, filed December 14, 1951, now abandoned, and of applicationSerial No. 4,973, filed January 27, 1960.

The self-adjusting apex guide of the present invention is shown hereinin connection with its use in a strand plying apparatus such as thatdisclosed and claimed in applicants prior application Serial No.275,016, filed April 24, 1963, now Patent No. 3,153,895. In suchapparatus a first strand is pulled forwardly through a balloon, formedas by a driven balloon creating flyer, about a supply package of asecond strand, the first strand meeting the second strand at a plyingpoint axially of and beyond balloon. The control of the tension in theballooning strand to maintain it substantially constant is of primaryimportance if the plied cord is to have both the strands therein ofequal length. Various means have been proposed for automaticallycontrolling the size of the balloon, and thus the tension of the strandtherein, to compensate for variations in tension arising from variationsin balloon size. Among such devices are those shown in Clarkson PatentNo. 2,689,449, and in applicants above recited applications of whichthis application is a continuation-in-part, wherein the guide for theapex of the balloon is made to be self-adjusting. The present inventionrepresents an improvement upon such former adjustable apex guides inthat it is more sensitive, more compact, and more easily adjusted.

The invention has among its objects the provision of a novel improvedself-adjusting apex guide for a strand twisting and/or plying spindle.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of aself-adjusting apex guide adapted for use as indicated, such guidepossessing high sensitivity in spite of the fact that it may be made toengage the ballooning strand only at a location closely adjacent theapex of the balloon.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of aself-adjusting apex guide wherein an anti-friction bearing is employedboth to support the guide and to function as a speed reducing gearingmechanism interposed in the drive train of the apex guide adjustingmechanism.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a self-adjustingapex guide which may readily be adjusted I while it is in operation bothto vary its distance from the balloon creating fiyer of the spindle andto vary the resilient biasing force opposed upon the guide in adirection opposite the direction of rotation of the balloon.

The above and further objects and novel features of the invention willmore fully appear from the following description when the same is readin connection with the accompanying drawings. It is to be expresslyunderstood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose ofillustration only, and are not intended as a definition of the limits ofthe invention.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to like partsthroughout the several views,

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a spindle of the skiptype for plying strands together, such spindle incorporating a firstembodiment of self-adjusting apex guide in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a View in vertical section on an enlarged scale of theembodiment of self-adjusting apex guide mechanism employed in theapparatus of FIG. 1, the section being taken along the broken line 22 ofFIG. 3;

FIG. 3 is a view in horizontal section through such first embodiment ofapex guide, the section being taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a view in vertical axial section through a second embodimentof self-adjusting apex guide in accordance with the invention.

Although the self-adjusting apex guide of the present invention is shownherein in connection with its use in a strand plying spindle of the skiptype, it is to be understood that such guide may be used in a variety ofspindles of other types such as singles, uptwisters, and downtwisters,wherein it is desired accurately to control the size of the balloon andthus the tension of the strand therein.

Turning now to FIG. 1, the plying spindle there shown is generallydesignated by the reference character 10. Spindle 10 has a verticalllydispose-d centrally hollow main shaft 11 which is rotatably mounted in asuitable bearing in a housing 16 afiixed to a supporting frame 12. Theshaft 11 is driven by a belt 14 entrained over a pulley 15 affixed toshaft 11, the belt being driven by a suitable power source such as anelectric motor, not shown. Supported on shaft 11 by a bearing containedin a housing 19 is a support 17 which is held from rotation by pairs ofcoacting lower and upper magnets 20 and 21 mounted on housings 16 and19, respectively. lETAOlNETAOIN A package support 22 is mounted onsupport 17, support 22 having means for holding a strand package 24centrally thereon. Package 24, which supplies the inner strand b, issurrounded by a cage-like guard 23, a part of which also functions totension the strand b preliminarily in the travel of such stranddownwardly to a guide pulley 25 mounted on support 17. The spindle 10 asthus far described is generally similar to that shown and described inClarkson Patent No. 2,689,449.

The strand handling device 26 on support 17 of the present apparatus isan idle strand tensioning means which is preferably adjustable to varyits strand tensioning effect. The tensioning device 26 shown isgenerally similar to that shown in FIG. 5 of the patent to Klein, No.2,671,305, changed as to its orientation and the manner of feeding thestrand into and away from the tension device. It is to be understoodthat other known strand tensioning devices may, if desired, besubstituted for the tensioning device 26 here shown and described.

The strand b, after passing under guide pulley 25, travels to the right(FIG. 1) initially to contact the right hand roller 27 at the bottomthereof, and then travels counterclockwise around the roller to contactthe left hand roller 29 adjacent the bottom thereof. The strand thentravels clockwise around roller 29 and between such roller and anadjustably tensional leaf spring 36 which has a curved free endoverlying and conforming to the curvature of the roller 29. As set forthin the above Klein patent, the ends of the shafts mounting rollers 27and 29 are supported in guideways (not here shown) which lie generallyparallel to the direction of the runs of the strand approaching roller27 and leaving roller 29, the tension in the strand and the forceexerted on the roller 29 through strand b by the leaf spring 30 causingthe strand to be nipped forcibly between the rollers. The leaf spring 30is secured at its upper end to support 17; the spring is adjustablythrust toward roller 29 by a set screw threaded into a bracket affixedto support 17.

From the top of roller 29 the strand b travels to the right to a rollguide set 31, and thence progresses to a canted fixedly journalled guideroll 32 which directs it downwardly centrally into the open upper end ofthe hollow main shaft 11 of the spindle. Strand [1 is pulled e)downwardly through the bore in shaft 11 to meet and be plied with asecond strand a at a plying point X within the shaft.

The strand a is supplied by an outer strand package 34 mounted on afixed package support having a central package receiving member 35. Frompack-age 34, after being preliminarily tensioned by means not shown, thestrand a proceeds to a capstan set 36 which feeds it forward :atsubstantially constant speed. capstan set 36 may be constructed anddriven in the same manner as the capstan for feeding the strand theredesignated b in FIG. 8 of Clarkson Patent No. 2,729,051. Capstan set 36of the present apparatus has two vertically spaced rollers 37, 39, bothdriven at a constant speed from and in synchronism with shaft 11, thelower roller 39 being tipped at a small angle, as shown. Strand atravels about rollers 37, 39 a plurality of times in laterally spacedwraps, passing between roll '37 and a spring pressed idle roll 40, andthen leaves the capstan set at the bottom of roller 39 to travel about afixedly mounted guide pulley 41. From pulley 41 the strand proceedsupwardly to a further fixedly mounted guide pulley 42 which is mountedon a cross arm 44 secured to a fixed standard 45 rising from frame 12.From pulley 42 the strand travels to a further pulley 46, j-ournalled ona bracket 47 aflixed to cross arm 44, from which it proceeds downwardlyto an apex guide device 49 for the balloon 50 formed in strand a by thespindle.

The device 49 here shown is the first embodiment of balloon controldevice in accordance with the present invention. Such device 49 includestorque responsive means in engagement with the upper end of the balloonfor sensing changes in the diameter of the balloon, and novel meansresponsive to the first named means for changing the size of theballoon.

The strand a travels downwardly from pulley 46 to a verticallyadjustable apex guide and balloon engaging means, which is a part of theballoon control device 49 to be described, and thus into the balloon 50formed in the strand by a flyer disc 51 fixedly secured to shaft 11.Dis-c 51 has a strand guiding eye adjacent its edge, the strand passingthrough such eye and thence generally radially and somewhat downwardlybeneath the flyer disc into an opening in the side of shaft 11 in amanner similar to that shown in FIG. 6 of Clarkson Patent No. 2,729,051.Within the bore in shaft 11 generally below the radial passage throughthe sidewall thereof there is affixed a cord forming die (not shown)within which equal lengths of the strands a and b are wrapped about eachother at the plying point X. After leaving the plying point, the nowformed cord travels downwardly through the bore in shaft 11, out thebottom end thereof, and downwardly to a fixedly mounted guide pulley 52.

From pulley 52 the cord 0 travels upwardly to a second capstan set 54which is similar to the above described capstan set 36. The opposedvertically spaced rolls 55, 56 of such capstan set are driven at aconstant speed from and synchronized with the shaft 11. The cord passesaround rolls 55, 56 a plurality 'of times in laterally spaced wraps,being nipped between roll 55 and an idle roll 57 which is spring pressedtoward roll 55. From the capstan set 54 the cord c travels downwardly atsubstantially constant speed to a take-up bobbin 59 which isfrictionally rim-driven by one or both of its supporting roll-s 60.

Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the construction of the first illustrativeembodiment of balloon apex guide and balloon control mechanism 49 of thepresent invention is shown in detail. As there shown, device 49 has abody in the form of a generally circular cylindrical barrel 61, theouter lower portion of which is threaded at 62 and is received in athreaded bore 64 adjacent the end of the cross arm 44. Body 61 is heldin vertically adjusted position on the overarm by a lock nut 65 mountedon the threaded portion 62 of the body 61. Inwardly thereof the body 61is provided with four radially disposed inwardly extending flanges orwings 66, the inner edges of such wings being of part-circu larcylindrical shape and being threaded as shown at 67. Angularly betweenopposite pairs of wings 66 the body 61 is provided with diametricallyaligned further flanges or wings 69, the inner edges of which are smoothand lie in vertical planes somewhat radially inwardly of the inner edgesof wings 66. The described construction of the inner portion of body 61provides for the accurate vertical guiding and adjustment of the apexguide means per se now to be described.

The apex guide in this instance is formed somewhat similarly to ananti-friction bearing having an outer race 70, an inner race 71, and aplurality of bodies of revolution 72 interposed between the races. Theouter race 70, which has a diameter somewhat less than the innerdiameter of opposing wings 66, is provided with two opposed verticalgrooves 74 within which the inner edges of wings 69 are accuratelyslidably received, the respective surfaces of the inner edges of wings69 accurately engaging the confronting corresponding lateral andradially inner surfaces of grooves 74. The outer race is, therefore,free to move vertically while being accurately guided along its axis andbeing held from rotation about its axis. The inner race 71 is in theform of a balloon apex guide having an inner passage 75 therethroughwhich is circular cylindrical at its upper portion 76 and is flared inits lower portion 77. The configuration of such bore may, for example,be the same as that of the strand engaging bore shown in FIG. 7 in eachof applicants prior applications Serial No. 261,704 and 4,973. Thus theportion 76 of the passage forms a guide for the apex of the balloon, andthe portion 77 thereof presents an annular surface which engages anintermediate portion of the balloonin'g yarn.

The confronting edges of the outer and inner races 70 and 71 areprovided with peripherally extending grooves of such shape as accuratelyto receive therebetween a plurality of bearing rollers 72 which in thisinstance are in the form of downwardly converging frustums of cones. Therollers 72 are provided with a tubular cage member 79 having a pluralityof windows therethrough, each such window receiving a roller 72.

The combination of elements 70, 71, 72 function as a planetary gearingdevice, wherein the outer race 70 sets similarly to a ring gear, theinner race or apex guide 71 functions as a sun gear, and the rollers 72function as planet gears. The cage member 79, which rotates about thecommon axis of the races, thus rotates at a reduced speed with respectto the inner race or apex guide 71, thereby yielding a desired reductionin the speed of driving of the cage member. The elements 70, 71, 72 aresupported and vertically adjusted by means of an upper tubular extension80 of the cage member 79. Thus at the zone 81 the extension 80 of thecage member is radially thickened at a zone 81 which is externallythreaded so as threadely to interfit with the threads 67 on the inneredges of wings 66. Thus driving of the cage member 79 in one directionwill cause members 70, 71, 72 as a whole to rise, and turning of thecage member in the other direction will cause them to fall. Thislengthens and shortens, respectively, the eifective distance between theballoon creating flyer 51 and the apex guide surface 76, and thuslengthens and shortens the balloon. It will be understood that the handof thread 67 and that on portion 81 of the extension of the cage member79 is such that rotation of the inner race 71 in the direction ofballoon rotation lowers the apex guide and rotation of the race 71 inthe opposite direction raises the apex guide.

The apex guide device 49 is provided with means in the form of a coiltorque spring 82, telescoped about extension 80, which resilientlyopposes the turning of the cage member 79, and thus the rotation of theapex guide member 71 in the direction of rotation of the balloon. Spring82 has a lower tang 84 fixedly secured to the por tion 81 of a cagemember extension 80, as shown, a tang 85 at the upper end of the springbeing secured to a radially inwardly extending flange 86 of a cap member87 mounted on body 61. The cap member 87 has a portion 89 overlying theupper end of body 61 and a downwardly extending skirt 90 which istelescoped over the upper end of body 61. The cap is retained on body 61in the desired angular position by means of one or more set screws 91threaded radially into ski-rt 90- and having an inner pilot end portion92 received in an annular groove 94 in the outer surface of body 61. Itwill be apparent that the spring 82 may be initially wound, with thespindle at rest, by loosening set screw 91 and turning cap 87 asrequired, following which the set screw is tightened. The upper surfaceof portion 80 of the extension 80 of the cage member will at that timeengage the lower radially inner surface of part 89 of cap 87 as a stop.Further adjustment of the spring 82 can readily be carried out at anytime as required, even while the twisting spindle is in operation, bysuitably turning cap 87. It will also be apparent that, by reason of thethreaded mounting of the body 61 in the cross arm 44, the adjustment ofthe apex guiding device as a whole may be easily affected, even whilethe apparatus is in operation, by loosening lock nut 65, turning thebody 61 in the appropriate direction, and then tightening the lock nut.If desired, and as shown in the illustrative embodiment, the spring 82may be effectively shielded from the strand a by extending portion 80 ofthe cage member 79 upwardly past portion 81 thereof in a circularcylindrical tubular extension 95 which extends upwardly beyond flange 86of the cap member 87 and has sliding engagement therewith at zone 96.

It is thus apparent that there has been provided a balloon apexadjusting mechanism which is particularly characterized by itscompactness, its ease of adjustment, and by its sensitivity, since itincorporates a speed reducing mechanism in the means which supports theapex guide per se for rotation. Friction in the device may be decreased,and the device made still more sensitive by forming the cage 79including the portion 81 thereof of a low friction material such asTeflon. Such material, which is particularly characterized by its lowfriction with various materials such as metal of which the rollers 72may be made, possesses adequate strength and durability for the punposeat hand, particularly since the stresses encountered are relativelysmall.

In FIG. 4. there is shown a second embodiment of self-adjusting apexguide in accordance with the invention. Such device, which likewisecombines an antifriction bearing for the apex guide and a speed reducingmechanism in the driving train therefrom, differs from that of the firstdescribed embodiment in that it interposes a further speed reducingmechanism between the rotatable cage for the intermediate bodies ofrevolution (planets) of the bearing and the means for adjusting the apexguide per se toward and away from the flyer. Parts in FIG. 4 which aregenerally the same as those of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 are designated by thesame reference characters but with an added prime.

The adjustable apex guide of FIG. 4, which is generally designated bythe reference character 49', includes a. generally circular cylindricalbody 61' which is threadedly mounted in threaded vertical bore 64' inthe outer end of a crossarm 44, being adjustably held therein by meansof a lock nut 65'. As before, the apex guide per se is in the form of ananti-friction bearing having an outer race 70' and an inner race 71,functioning as a balloon apex guide and interposed bodies of revolution72'. Bodies 72 in this instance are shown as balls which are held in acage 79' so as to be free for rotation about their own axes whilerotating at a reduced speed with respect to the inner race 71 about theaxis of the latter.

The outer race 70 is, in this instance, supported upon and held fromrotation about its axis by two adjusting screws generally designated100, the screws 100 being located in diametral relationship on oppositesides of the axis of races 70' and 71. The lower end of each screw 100is threaded as shown at 10 1 and is received within a respectivethreaded bore 102 in the outer race 70'. The upper end of each screw 100is threaded as shown at 1104 with a thread of the same hand as thread 101 but of a somewhat different pitch. Thread 104 is received within arespective one of two threaded bores 105 in radially disposed arms 106afiixed to the upper end of body 61'. Intermediate the length of eachscrew 100 there is fixedly secured a pinion 107 having spur teeth whichmesh with an elongated spur gear 109 formed upon an upper thickenedportion 8 1' of .an extension of the cage member 79. It will be apparentthat as the inner race 71 turns, the cage member 79' rotates at areduced speed. Gear 109 on the cage member extension in turn rotates thescrews 100 through the pinions 107.

.The differential action of the threads 101 and 104 of the screws 100functions markedly to reduce the extent of vertical travel of themembers 70, 71, and 72' relative to the degree of rotation of the innerrace 71'. The spur teeth on the gears 107 and 109 extend vertically, sopinions 107 may move vertically with respect to gear 109 as required asthe screws 100 rotate. The hand of screw threads 101 and 104 is suchthat rotation of race 71 in the direction of balloon rotation lowers theapex guide, and rotation of the race 71' in the opposite directionraises the apex guide.

Rotation of the inner race 71' in the direction of rotation of theballoon is resiliently opposed by a coil torque spring 82 having a lowertang 84 secured to the top of portion 81' the extension of cage member79' and an upper tang secured to the inner edge of a body portion 110 ofa cap 111 which is rotatably adjustably mounted on the upper end of body61' in the same manner as cap 74 of the first described embodiment. Ifdesired, the spring 82 may be hooded by an extension of the cage member79 Pin the same manner as in the first embodiment, such extension beingguided at 96' by the inner edge of the portion 110 of the adjustablecap.

As in the first described embodiment, the friction between therelatively movable parts of device 49 of FIG. 4 may be greatly decreasedby making at least some of the parts of low friction material such asTeflon (polytetrafluoroethylene). Thus the cage member 79, the gears 107and 109, and the screws may, if desired, be made of such material. Thedescribed device may thus be made with a high sensitivity, respondingrapidly to compensate for small variations in balloon diameter. Whereasthe ring, sun, and planets in the disclosed embodiments of the planetarygearing device are, in effect, parts of an anti-friction bearing andfunction as a frictional gearing device, such parts may, if desired, beprovided with meshing teeth as in more conventional planetary gearingdevices.

Although only a limited number of embodiments of the invention have beenillustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoingspecification, it is to be understood that various changes, such as inthe relative dimensions of the parts, materials used, and the like, aswell as the suggested manner of use of the apparatus of the invention,may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention will now be apparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

1. A self-adjusting balloon apex guide comprising a planetary gearingdevice having a ring and parts rotatable with respect to the ringincluding a sun coaxial of the ring, and at least one body of revolutionfunctioning as a planet interposed between and drivingly engaging thering and sun, the sun being in the form of an annular member having acentral strand guiding passage therethrough, means for retaining thering from rotation while permitting its reciprocation along the commonaxis of the ring and the sun, and means supporting the planetary gearingdevice and for adjusting it along said axis comprising means connectedto the planet to rotate therewith about said axis, means connected tothe last named means to drive the planetary gearing device for travel inopposite directions along said axis when the sun rotates about said axisin respective opposite directions, and resilient means connected to oneof the rotatable parts of the planetary gearing device yieldingly tooppose ro- ;ation of the sun in the direction of rotation of the baloon.

2. A self-adjusting balloon apex guide comprising a planetary gearingdevice having a ring and parts rotatable with respect to the ringincluding a sun coaxial of the ring, and a plurality of bodies ofrevolution functioning as planets interposed between and drivinglyengaging the ring and sun, the sun being in the form of an annularmember having a central strand guiding passage therethrough, means forretaining the ring from rotation while permitting its reciprocationalong the common axis of the ring and the sun, and means supporting theplanetary gearing device and for adjusting it along said axis com.-prising means connected to the planets to rotate therewith about saidaxis, means connected to the last named means to drive the planetarygearing device for travel in opposite directions along said axis whenthe sun rotates about said axis in respective opposite directions, andresilient means connected to one of the rotatable parts of the planetarygearing device yieldingly to oppose rotation of the sun in the directionof rotation of the balloon.

3. A self-adjusting balloon apex guide as claimed in claim 2, comprisinga support, and wherein the means driving the planetary gearing device inopposite directions along the said axis comprises first screw means onthe support and second screw means, driven by the means connected to theplanets to rotate therewith, engaged with said first screw means.

4. A self-adjusting balloon apex guide as claimed in claim 3, whereinthe second screw means is fixedly connected to the means connected tothe planets to rotate therewith.

5. A self-adjusting balloon apex guide as claimed in claim 2, comprisinga support, and wherein the means driving the planetary gearing device inopposite directions along the said axis comprises first, screw threaded,passage means on one of the support and the ring, second, screwthreaded, means threadedly engaged in said threaded passage means andconnected to the other of the support and the ring, and means drivinglyconnecting the second screw threaded means to the means connected to theplanets to rotate therewith.

6. A self-adjusting ballon apex guide as claimed in claim 2, comprisinga support, and wherein the means driving the planetary gearing device inopposite directions along the said axis comprises first, screw threadedpassage means on the support, second, screw threaded, means threadedlyengaged in said threaded passage means and connected to the ring, andmeans drivingly connecting the second screw threaded means to the meansconnected to the planets to rotate therewith.

7. A self-adjusting balloon apex guide as claimed in claim 6, whereinthe second screw threaded means is in the form of at least one elongatedscrew shaft having threads of the same hand but of difierent pitch onits opposite ends, one of said ends of the shaft being threadedlyengaged with the first screw threaded passage means, and wherein thering has further screw threaded passage means therein aligned with thefirst screw threaded passage means, and the other end of the threadedshaft is threadedly engaged with the further screw threaded passagemeans in the ring.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,689,449 9/1954Clarkson 57106 FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

D. E. WATKINS, Assistant Examiner.

1. A SELF-ADJUSTING BALLON APEX GUIDE COMPRISING A PLANETARY GEARINGDEVICE HAVING A RING AND PARTS ROTATABLE WITH RESPECT TO THE RINGINCLUDING A SUN COAXIAL OF THE RING, AND AT LEAST ONE BODY OF REVOLUTIONFUNCTIONING AS A PLANET INTERPOSED BETWEEN AND DRIVINGLY ENGAGING THERING AND SUN, THE SUN BEING IN THE FORM OF AN ANNULAR MEMBER HAVING ACENTRAL STRAND GUIDING PASSAGE THERETHROUGH, MEANS FOR RETAINING THERING FROM ROTATION WHILE PERMITTING ITS RECIPROCATION ALONG THE COMMONAXIS OF THE RING AND THE SUN, AND MEANS SUPPORTING THE PLANETARY GEARINGDEVICE AND FOR ADJUSTING IT ALONG SAID AXIS COMPRISNG MEANS CONNECTED TOTHE PLANET TO ROTATE THEREWITH ABOUT SAID AXIS, MEANS CONNECTED TO THELAST NAMED MEANS TO DRIVE THE PLANETARY GEARING DEVICE FOR TRAVEL INOPPOSITE DIRECTIONS ALONG SAID AXIS WHEN THE SUN ROTATES